Media in the White House: US broadcasters take Trump “off air” in solidarity with CNN

When US President Donald Trump landed in New York on Monday afternoon, none of the major American TV channels were there. The reason is the current dispute between the White House and three American media companies, CNN, Politico and MS Now (formerly MSNBC). According to the US President, these three have repeatedly spread “fake news” about him and his government for years.

These unsubstantiated allegations were reason enough to ban journalists from these companies from entering the White House, as happened last weekend. At the same time, CNN was dropped from this month's rotation of the so-called news pool, whose members accompany Trump at every turn.

Since CNN was originally scheduled to be the accompanying television station on Monday, there were no pictures of Trump in New York. He met there with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and French President Emmanuel Macron in the run-up to the UN General Assembly.

The four other TV channels that are represented in the American news pool, ABC, CBS, NBC - and also Fox News, which was previously particularly close to Trump - had also refused to take over CNN's unexpectedly vacant place in the rotation for reasons of solidarity.

"The public has a significant interest in receiving accurate and independent information about their government. No government should restrict a news organization because it disapproves of its reporting," said the members of the news pool - Fox, ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC - in a joint statement on Monday.

Even before the press release was published, the members of the news pool announced that the TV pool would no longer broadcast presidential events “with immediate effect.” "This is in response to the White House's decision to prevent CNN from carrying out its assigned pool duties. No replacement pool will be deployed," the group said.

The fact that there were still pictures of Trump's trip to New York was because streaming services and other TV channels that are not part of the news pool are still allowed to accompany the president's events. Journalists from newspapers, radio and agencies continue to report on the president.

However, the opening ceremony of the new helipad in the White House, also held on Monday, showed what happens when the TV pool is not there. The loud background and the TV stations' lack of technical know-how meant that Trump could not be heard for a second.

The three media companies that lost access to the White House as a result of Trump's announcement on Friday also formally filed a lawsuit on Monday. In their lawsuit, CNN, Politico and MS Now said the withdrawal of accreditation was a clear violation of the freedom of the press guaranteed by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

"Since the earliest days of the Republic, presidents have criticized the tone and content of press coverage. But as the Supreme Court has already confirmed, the First Amendment - including the freedom of the press it enshrines - reflects a deep-rooted national commitment [...]," the indictment says.

Attacks on press freedom are nothing new in the Trump administration. During Trump's second term in office, journalists were repeatedly punished for reporting critically about Trump and his government work. Trump also regularly insults and insults members of the media.

For media observers and press organizations, the government's behavior is worrying. So far there has been no sign from the White House that it wants to withdraw the ban.

Rather, the government announced the launch of “Trump TV”. The first live broadcast on the new streaming channel will be Trump's speech on Tuesday at the UN General Assembly, which is scheduled for 9:55 a.m. (3:55 p.m. German time).